bigvibes74

Just looking through this post and all I can say is great advice! My every 6 month clean involves washing the car as advised, drying with a chamois (sorry but I do use a really good soft one!), then I usually open the doors and boot and make sure all the water is dried up in all the nooks and crannies around the door frames and under the doors etc. I will also use an old rag to take any oily or dirty bits off in these places \like door hinges). Once dried I will use a trade tar and glue remover - however, this will also strip some of the protection of the wax. I then use the Meguires clay and detailing spray to get the paintwork super smooth. The reason I use the tar and glue remover is that it is great for removing the tar marks. If you use the clay for this - you can be there for ages and it takes a fair bit of elbow power. However, the tar and glue remover is crap for taking baked on flies off but, the clay is good here - hence the reason I use both! For waxing I used to use Meguires Gold Class wax with Auto Glym paint restorer for taking out swirls - more recently though, I have come accross a great fine (really really fine) trade cutting compound called 'Orbit' which is only sold in gallon tins I believe. This is amazing for the swirls - believe me, especially if you have a black car - get this stuff! I then finish off with a liquid wax which again is a trade stuff which I buy in gallon tins and get from the same place. However, had I not discovered this , I would still be happy with Gold Class. I also apply the wax with a soft towely pad rather than a terry cloth or meguires pad and always use plenty of micro fibre cloths for removing the wax - they are brilliant and dirt cheap these days. I tend to use one cloth to take away the majority of the haze and then use an extra clean one to really finish off and buff to perfection! Another tip is - never skimp on preparing and waxing your front bumper, lights and wing mirror housings - the better protected they are, the easier the baked on flies and road crap will come off with just a good car wash soap and warm water. Also - don't forget to give those alloys a waxing too - baked on brake dust will be a thing of the past and it'll be a doddle to clean those wheels! Finally - especially to all the UK Zeder's or places where they use salt! - after each winter, get the underside/wheel arches of your car steam cleaned to get rid of all the salty crap that they put on our roads to treat them for snow/ice. Loads of places do it and its not so expensive at about £5 - £10 a pop. Well worth it! Well - Ok - all we need now is some half decent dry but overcast weather to sort the cleaning out! Even if it does become dry, I'm sure we'll just complain instead about the amount of dust gathering on our cherished Zeds bonnets before we've finsihed waxing the roof! lol Happy cleaning guys n gals! Mark

Just got the Z back from dealer today with new clutch linkage spring - ahhh - superb, world of difference and once again a very happy Zed owner!!!!

Michael - Just in process of moving to Banbridge, living just outside of Maghaberry at mo. Where and when is the meet on the 28th May? May end up taking a run there. Mark

Cheers guys, for the replies. Dealer I bought it from is also replacing a clutch link at the pedal but the clutch fluid change seems to have sorted the sticky pedal. Sooooo glad to hear the whirring sound is normal. Thanks again!

Cheers guys, thanks for the extremely warm welcome!

Hi all, Mark here from Northern Ireland. Firstly, soooo glad to be a new Z owner, have wanted one for a while now and really chuffed that I now have one (albeit with a hopefully minor problem - see my post in the tech section re. clutch). I bought an '05 Azure blue and have to say its turned a few heads but screw that, its the way it makes me feel when I drive it, couldn't give a flying f**k about what other people think - I love it! lol Looking forward to being a part of the club and making some new friends here. Cheers!

Firstly, Hi to all, I'm a new Z owner and new member here! I bought an '05 350z recently and have it back with the dealer already (its still under 3 month warranty with them!). I didn't notice the problem when I test drove the car but when I bought it and picked it up, I took it for a serious drive or two lol and then I discovered the clutch pedal got sticky. It stuck about half way down and I had to pull it back up with my foot although it didn't affect me changing gear. Also, when I am idling in neutral, I get a faint 'whirring' sound but when I depress the clutch it goes away and it also gives the odd click and clunk now and again! I have googled the problem and some american forums suggest that a clutch fluid replacement solves the sticky pedal problem (also something to do with hot weather) but with the whirring noise - some say its normal and others say get a new clutch! Does anyone have any substantive experience of this and can give me a solution? Cheers!